The night was cold during the the last few weeks of construction, there was a moment when Peter started to remind some to leave before 5:00 PM, it’s the superstitions of the natives for those people who works in a construction of a new building here in the island they are not supposed to stay beyond that time. There were afternoons where in the workers had the same strange feeling as we are, like our eyes are playing tricks on us. Some wind that felt by our feet and it goes back and forth, my late grandfather said before, there are some unexplainable things in this world where in earthlings tend to re-settle when there’s a new construction going on. If your feet didn’t feel anything painful, they are harmless and yet it does not mean they don’t know how to be upset. That day, Pedro prepared a number of small plates with tiny portion of food. We all think that each time the paper with poetry of the British be flown away by the wind, it was them playing with him as my late grandfather said, since they are not people when they take away something, it’ll be returned to that person in a different image. That’s why we always remind him to eat our native fruits especially the mangosteen. Pedro and I always love the green and ripe mangoes, we just choose the right one to slice into 3 pieces, to check if it’s safe to eat. Han can sense them too, but he always chew in the durian candy that he bought from the market and makes some fresh fruits juices for all of us. There were even times when we see him releasing his prayer beads, and dip it in the waters. During his first week, it was always during breaks and he never miss his schedule of his tradition. We never had the chance to ask, but he always smiles at us when he caught us looking at him. The Japanese tap him from his shoulder then he bowed to him. The two became very close and always there when he checks for the tools to draw for her draft. The boy is very meticulous when it comes to details and he see to it that there is even an inventory of materials used. He mentioned one time that he had his internship from an energy company in Hanoi that helped him a lot in practicing AutoCAD for the intricate parts within the construction and he’s very helpful with other things, even when Pedro asked him to leave before 5:00 PM. “I’ll be alright.” He said. The Japanese always smile when he stays till 7:00 PM. Each morning, we test the generator if it’s function suffice all electrical, and it efficient. Now it’s 5:00 PM, we turn on the power to light the whole building, the air conditioners and all the appliances that needs electricity. Miguel was focused on the Biometrics key lock for employees, that will require their finger print and face recognition, if all our access is functional. Everything went well, we really need to hire an additional IT person. We suggested that it needs to be a team of 5, 3 are multitasker which are someone who can do a bit of electrical or someone who can help with the guests. The master key lock is with Benjo and Joselito but the access right are for four for each card, with a back-up of finger print, face recognition and a typical key. It will also support the attendance of the employees, as we check the system. It auto populates the time-in, scheduled break, adjustment if necessary, it’s a bit of work in administration. “I’m crossing my fingers that no one will make unexceptional adjustments.” Joselito said. “Why don’t we add some command where in the manager or IT head can adjust the time, if there’s an emergency.” Benjo said. They system is connected to a HR CRM with accounting windows. Han was facing the computer for the final touches. “Han, do you have the documentation for the Biometrics?” I asked. Yes, I do and it’s up to the other settings that the IT person asked me to add in the graphs.” Han said. He hand over his draft pages and there are a few commands that needs to be use. We realized we need two computers, and it was installed to mine and Benjo’s. The third computer that they require is for the ID number generation and with the settings for the internet and other technology related requirements for the building. There’s even a reminder that nothing else should be installed in that computer. All the reservation and restaurants windows and tablets are full functional and the POS, order and scheduling CRM for guests. From Benjo’s settings, all windows are viewable.
Ezekiel: Everything is set, we need all the security and janitors tomorrow for their identification cards.
Pedro: They will be here, I told them earlier when they came. Pedro said.
Benjo: Great! The Accountant, HR person, Kitchen and Housekeeping staff will be here tomorrow too. Our accountant and HR Manager are from Coron. Some of the housekeeping staff are from Puerto Princesa. They need to sign the bank form for their payroll account same day, tomorrow.
Everything is in place, we left the site around 9:00 PM and there were 3 security guards that was left to stay. The lights are turn on overnight so they can check for spark from plugs. Our opening is 5 days from now, there are just a few finishing touches to do. The towels and robes was brought again to the laundry service to steam wash. Han now stays with me, it’s a cheaper rent compared to a place he initially stayed. There’s only two bedrooms in Lola’s house, but Pearl plans to build a place where Han can stay, since there’s still an area where another house can be construct. When we reach home, I reach for my computer to check my emails. There’s a number of messages and one is from a friend. Pearl’s writing material is up and was published by the university. Someone saw online another post about the paper, it was the man from London. It’s all false accusations, as I read through I can’t help but be in awe of the way this man thinks. He accused Pearl that she was trying to steal his cousin’s job when Pearl was hired for a work from home set-up, and if compared to his cousin’s stories, Pearl is not a match. Unfortunately, the paper has all the writings of Pearl because we have a copy from the archives under Pearl’s name which was before she flew out of the Philippines to London. He’s tripping, and as the same assessment of other engineers his sentences shows the tone of someone who likes to bully people. There’s even a note, that he thinks that he’ll come back or find Pearl sooner or later just for kicks, the fun of torture to a woman. He’s just letting the time pass, till everyone who knows forgets, strange when he posted it all online. He sound sick, very sick that he needs to be admitted to a psychiatric detention. He even made a comment about how it was written, his words and analysis are all wrong, it showed that never read the words and sentences. The outline and draft of Pearl was submitted and signed by our professor, she just added a few more sentences about history and a few pictures for the site. There was even a proof that he messed with a child’s blog, nowadays it’s part of the school curriculum in order to be at par with other countries when it comes to technical know-how. People are still observing everything about him, he just made us doubt his kind. When in school we are very helpful to foreign and exchange students for them to do well in the universities. We make them feel at home so that they won’t get home sick for being away from their families and home. I started to write an email to Pearl, because she needs to be aware of what’s happening, the things he’s been doing. He’s crazy as most students say from the thread that he created. No one serious actually respond to him, how can we believe those things he said. His proof was just stolen journals of Pearl and it doesn’t even say anything about the universities. It all about what she’d been through, there’s not even a sentence about our relationship. What was he looking for from her journal, one asked from the thread. Another said, that he’s way is very familiar. She shared an information to us, messages he posted online with another that he’s just being protective of “her”. Because Pearl will try to steal her family from her. Those stupid accusations and I never thought that this is the return of a favor for helping a family. The funniest thing is, it seems he doesn’t even know who he speaks to online, the way the conversation from the recording, he asked if Pearl got the idea of placing chapters from him. Why, don’t we have paper backs here in the Philippines. What kind of people does this person think we are? The thing is Ezekiel, Pear is not the only one he accused, there are a few members that he sent messages to. He just stopped when he realized that he messaged a UP professor, but because of that we saw another threads of his blabbering from a foreign site. Topics about new ideas that can be found from the members blog, there was one time that he was ask of a solution for a situation, he wasn’t able to reply afterwards, he said he needs to paid for his ideas, he stopped when he was swamped with questions why did he post his idea online in the first place.
Peal and I grew up together in this island, our family have close ties with each other that when something happens to one of each family member, where always there to support in any way that we can. She do freelance tourist guide for our hotel especially for those who are interested in snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving and other water sports. There’s just one sport that Palawan isn’t famous for, that is surfing, but there are those waves that comes somewhere here in Palawan that we don’t tell tourists till they encounter it, because of the policies from the natives. They said, the deities haven’t approve the idea of people doing that sport around this island. When I washed ashore during that time when I tried to look for clues, Pedro told me that there was a dolphin who was on the surface int the waters. We strongly believes that there are water creatures that help the natives of this island, back to shore. It was never told in a way for their privacy be kept for as long as we can. That’s; why if there’s a camera from above, and a boat of tourist goes around, children onboard, you’ll see from the waters, a group of dolphin watching over them, but they do show off a few times but not always. Creatures of the sea that we are so fond of, there was even a time when we saw a pink dolphin playing around the waters, it was those times when there was no tourists who came to the island because of the news about our mango tree. Somehow we natives interpret that incident still a blessing for letting us see uncommon creatures from the waters of Palawan. Most old people say, that during their time when there’s no chaos in the island, you’ll always see them by the surface, playing around with their family. It took years before they were witnessed by the native fishermen, it was after the war when they were spotted again in Coron. Some divers said that they went too deep during those times and no one can saw them even when they dove in the waters, people are truly grateful each time they see a couple and a family of dolphins. Pearl was even washed ashore by them during her first few years of training in the waters. Natives think that all divers have their own dolphin pets whom they take care of, each time they go into the waters, beliefs that was never confirmed by any divers even Lola. There were even stories about Sirena and Dugong, but during the early times, they said they are vengeful spirits when come across with wrong intentions, that’s why we are always scolded late at night when our family friends fishermen see us children on the stones by the shore, for it was believed that it was during those time of the day that they show and scare children for them not to be disturbed. A lighted candle is the only guide that we had back then, and Pedro and I really want to see that creature when we were young to add in our school project since as we did our search online, it seemed that they were all made-up stories. The books from one of the old houses here in palawan, tells different from what is known to the public. Some say it was a warning sign so that people be appreciative of the placed rules and regulations aside from the native beliefs that we have. It was the time that the Philippines, became a stand alone governing a number of islands to support the freedom that was finally handed over by the foreign land. A number of communities start to build for camaraderie be embraced by people with mix cultures across islands.
Two days went by, and the Human Resource Person-Consultant and CPA accountant worked together in the staff house to accommodate the hiring process for employees. They both are on consultancy agreement since they don’t need to be in the hotel regularly unlike the other staff. They have a number of years of work related experience on the same field, which makes it easier for us to understand the process flow and procedure required from the hotel. It is now the schedule for the Hotel Manager to be train for the attendance maker and approval settings that comes along with the tip breakdown. With that another page will be shown for the Accountant to check before it gets approved for pay-out release, and the tax window for the monthly government mandated deductions and the bonus. Then she saw that investors are also in payroll, that their pay-out will start on the 5th year of the hotel. The pay-out dates for employees had been set in the system, in a fix authorization right from the four of us. The British is the executive chef along with a Japanese chef. It is also the day that our HR Person and accountant will be handing over the staffs employee debit cards from one of our local banks. The POS is linked to the bank system for security reasons and scheduling since all computations needs to have this certain balance sheet for bookkeeping. Legal documents are now complete, license, permit and clearance are in small frame and hanged on a wall. The investor even chose a charity that we need to attend to once a year to support, which is not much of an expense because it’ll be one of the island’s project as gift-giving each month before the schools starts. Another day went by, and it’s for Lola’s blessings on the building. It is not the typical business blessing that most people know about, we don’t have any festive meals prepared, just snacks and fruits. It’s more solemn than others, investors was invited online, we’ve been expanding the radius of the hotel internet that are subdivided to different departments, guests access are only accessible by IT team with their non-disclosure agreement placed but since it’s the new age, most guest will have their own personal data to use for browsing and other online tools that they for their daily routine. There were sage scent that fills the air, the weather was a bit windy but some said, at least it’s not humid compared to other days. Our prayers was answered for a cooler weather during this event. Lola looked so proud of our accomplishments, Ada and Han became close as we saw them together handing the gift boxes to our guests. Amelia flew back to her home country two days after, and said that she’ll come to visit us soon. The start of reservation for the first few is this afternoon, and the hotel will be fully operational later at twilight.
I stayed in Palawan for years as the Manager for Engineering and became one of the Executives for a number of Hotels across island nearby aside from being the fisherman’s chief which was handed by birth right and married Pearl. A couple of years before Lola passed away Han and Ada married and now with two children. We light candles each night of our relatives death anniversary by the shore. There was a regular clean up of the waters and bay area with the support of the government each school across the Philippines set their own representative to spearhead the environmental project.
-The End-